CLASHES: Cops face an uphill struggle to keep a lid on trouble on the railways

Spitting mobs hurled abuse at disabled children and women in burkas, while clashing weekly with cops and rail staff.

Ex-Supt Michael Layton, formerly of British Transport Police, has lifted the lid on the £4m battle cops fight every year on the railways.

In just three months there were 276 incidents on trains, including one where a yob spat in the face of an officer.

Mr Layton says it is false to think the battle with hooliganism has been won and fears the political focus on tackling it has been lost.

He has also spoken of the terror cops face in policing hundreds of fans during a journey where there is no escape.

Mr Layton recently co-wrote Tracking the Hooligans with ex-colleague Alan Pacey, in which he listed examples of train violence in 2015.

He said: "I think there still a big issue to be resolved. I am not trying to sensationalise the issue.

"We still know that violent acts go on because of social media and websites for football violence. They upload videos every week.

"The organised elements to it are still there.

"What has changed is there are far fewer arrests at grounds now, and police intelligence structures for dealing with hooligans are better."

Mr Layton joined the police at 16 and worked on trains in the early 1970s before returning to BTP as a commander in the early 2000s.

He described the ordeal of handling carriages full of footie fans and said the situation is largely the same today.

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TOUGH TASK: Cops faced with policing hordes of fans on trains each week

“Football violence on the rail network is alive and well”

Tracking the Hooligans

"It is a very long, narrow, stretched thin line," he said.

"You can have six officers with several hundred fans and if you want back-up you have to wait 30 minutes before you get to the next station.

"It times it is about survival. Officers have to survive the best they can in that time.

"When I was on a train in the early 70s from Smethwick to Coventry. I was 19 and had one section to police.

"Trouble started and things were being smashed, and we were totally on our own.

"It was 20 minutes of hell. I remember the issue was if I got my truncheon out of my pocket it would show them that I was frightened.

"I was frightened but I thought if I get it out, there's a good chance they could end up using it on me."

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LESS COMMON: Mr Layton said arrests at grounds have reduced

The problem is far from confined to the glitz and glamour of the Premier League.

Of the four worst offending clubs between 2012 and 2014, only Manchester United, with 36 incidents, are in the top flight.

Championship sides Leeds United (77), Birmingham City (40) and Nottingham Forest (35) were the other serial offenders.

Incidents last year include:

A Forest fan punched a Sheffield Wednesday fan several times in the head on January 10, in full view of a BTP cop, and was later banned from matches for six years.

Seven days later, 150 Birmingham City fans scrapped at Wakefield station after a match with Leeds, hurling bottles at police before being put on a train.

On January 24, a fan exposed himself to distressed passengers in Derby after an FA Cup tie, before his mates tore off his underwear.

The next Saturday, Wolves fans at Bolton smashed the inside of their train up during a confrontation with opposing fans on the platform.

West Ham and Chelsea fans both were reported for anti-Semitic chants, with Blues fans hitting national headlines when they shoved a black man off a Metro train in Paris before a Champions League tie.

BTP said last year it has dealt with 15 racist incidents involving Chelsea fans since 2012.

At the end of February, West Brom and Southampton fans clashed, with two 52-year-old men assaulted, one receiving a double fractured jaw, and the other a cut and black eye.

Chelsea fans again sparked outrage on a train after their League Cup final with Spurs, chanting racist abuse, forcing one black passenger to move carriages, and leaving two Asian girls in tears after questioning why there were not wearing burkas.

On Monday, April 6, a non-league match was the precursor for violence, when 200 Grimsby fans ran amok at Sheffield station before a game with Alfreton.

Two BTP cops were punched and kicked as glasses were smashed on the road outside.

Twelve fans verbally abused a disabled boy on a train from London to Stoke on April 11, forcing some scared passengers to leave the train early.

On April 25, racial abuse was hurled at a four-year-old child on a service from Leeds to Bradford Forster Square, forcing the tot and their family off the train at Shipley.

A Bradford City fan was also responsible for head-butting a member of rail staff on April 3, knocking out two of his front teeth.

The incidents make it clear why a chapter of Tracking the Hooligans concludes with: “Football violence on the rail network is alive and well.

A BTP spokesman said: "All crime and antisocial behaviour on the rail network will be taken seriously by BTP and we will always look to take robust action against those who harass, intimate or assault passengers and staff.”

Tracking the Hooligans was brought out in January this year by Amberley Publishing and has a RRP of £16.99.